Assalamu'alaikum all,

For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve recently relocated to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the United Kingdom, and as I’m waiting to start work this Saturday inshaAllah, I just wanted to reflect on my time during the UK in the past 5 years. The lessons I learnt, character development I’ve went through, even this website, ProductiveMuslim.com was a result of the past 5 years.

I try to summarise below what I learnt and hope that people from both Kingdoms and beyond will reflect, learn, understand and implement what is found here inshaAllah:

• I’ve learnt that we in the Muslim countries take Islam for granted and hence we don’t taste its sweetness as much as we should. We take the mosques, Qurans, Ramadan, Eids, Halal food for granted hence we don’t care about Islam or working for Islam because everything is taken care of. The best example I’ve heard about this is like someone who walks into a park which is safe and secure, the parent will happily let their child go and play..but if you walk into a park that looks dangerous and scary you’ll hold your child tight to you and never let go. That’s the example of life in the Muslim world, vs. life in the non-Muslim world. In the UK, you’re so scared to lose your identity that you become more of a Muslim compared to in the Muslim world where everyone is Muslim and you feel relaxed and let go of things which you shouldn’t let go of.
• I learnt that we don’t need much from this world to make most of it; in the UK because I knew I wasn’t going to live there forever, I always tried to keep my worldly possessions to a minimum and I was surprised at how little I can live by. Now that I’m back in Saudi, I need to keep that mentality and not let this world and my nafs take over me with is demands and constant wants, I just need to remind myself that I’m not here forever, one day I’ll die.
• One of the benefits of life in UK is that you meet a variety of people from different backgrounds and cultures in one small pot and by virtue of living with them, you’ll have to find a common ground. Al-hamdulillah, the common ground in each case was ISLAM, and what a beautiful common ground that was! The bond of brotherhood found in the UK I have never experienced elsewhere because nothing else brings us together and if there’s, then that’s a bonus. Again to keep that mentality in mind whilst in Saudi would be interesting and perhaps it begins with a simple instruction of Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him) gave us and that is to say "Assalamu'alaikum" to those we know and those we don’t know.
• Dawah Dawah Dawah <-- again, living in UK has catapulted all the Muslims to the forefront of Dawah whether they like it or not. And the question is whether you take the opportunity to make dawah or not. Back here, the opportunities may seem small but in the wise words of a friend of mine “Take care of your capital before you look for Profits, take care of the current Muslims and improve their Islam before you look for new Muslims” so a lot of dawah work needs to be done here and if not, then I’m afraid of the warning of Allah & His Messenger which talks about Him replacing us with people who love Him more and who enjoin good and forbid evil.
• Constant remembrance of Allah: I’ve learnt how constant remembrance of Allah is the key to happiness and a calm and relaxed self in EVERY situation. In times of good, or bad, when Allah blesses you or tests you, constantly remember Allah and He’ll be there for you when you desperately need Him.
• I’ve learnt the concept of Productivity and how Islam pushes people to become productive, unlike what is commonly said about Islam that it makes people lazy and unproductive. And it made me determined to start ProductiveMuslim.com to bring this science back to the Muslim world because we desperately need to move forward in all that we do with vision and understanding.
• I’ve learnt that if you give time for Allah, Allah will give you time back. If you work for Allah, Allah will take care of your other affairs. If you’re sincere to Allah, Allah will be open up things for you which you don’t even expect.
• Finally, I’ve learnt that with sincerity and hard work, anything is possible and Allah is aware of all that you do.

To all my friends in the UK and those who made a difference in my life in the past 5 years, may Allah reward you and bless you and grant you all that you wish for in this Life and HereAfter. You’ll always be in my duas and I’ll never forget you, and I love you all for the sake of Allah. I ask one more favour from you: To make dua for me that I’ll always be the person whom you all knew and that I wouldn’t change for the worse, but change for the better inshaAllah and that Allah continues to open the way forward to all of us till He (SWT) is pleased with what we do so much so that He enters us in Jannat Al-Firdaus with The Prophets, Messengers, Martyrs and the Righteous People. Ameen.